Apparatus for cleaning surfaces.



e. DURHAM & c. w. mamma- APPARATUS FORYYCLEANIYNG SURFACES. APPLICATION FILED OQT- 22, 1914'.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

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. GEORGE DURHAM AND CHARLES W. MCGUIRK, OF SCRANTQN, PENNSYLVANIA.

Original application filed October 13, 1913, Serial No. 794,811.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr, 13, 1 915.

Divided and this application med October 22, 1914. Serial No. 867,985. i

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, GEORGE DURHAM and CHARLES W. MCGUIRE, citizens of the United States, residing at Scranton, county of Lackawanna, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Cleaning Surfaces, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to apparatus for cleaning surfaces, especially those of locomotives and other vehicles by rapidly removing therefrom the accumulation'of dust, mud, oily particles and the like with which the frames, running gear, and other parts of such vehicles have become covered in use, the present application being a division of our application Serial No. 794,811, filed October 13, 1913. v

As is Well known, the accumulation of foreign matter upon the exterior of locomotives and other vehicles is-frequently so great as to prevent careful inspection of the various parts, making it difiicult and sometimes impossible todetect fractures or other imperfections, which, if not remedied, may cause serious accidents. It is desirable, therefore,

that the running gear and other parts of;

locomotives and other vehicles be frequently cleaned, and it is customary to clean them by wiping off the foreign matters. This results, however, in an imperfect cleaning owing to the difliculty in getting at the complicated parts of the running gear and in getting the accumulation of material out of the many recesses therein. To wash ofl these accumuthe frame and parts be left clean and free from oil and other foreign matters.

lVe have dlscovered that if to a stream of water and oil, preferably mineral oil, the

water in the stream beinggreatly in excess of the oil, a stream of air at high velocity be admitted so as to break up the oil in the water into extremely minute particles and the stream be caused to impinge against the surfaces to be cleaned -'at the high velocityv imparted to the stream by the air, a most effective and altogether unusual action takes place. For example, we have found in practice thatif to a stream containing a mixture of oil and water in the proportion of about five hundred gallons of water to two gallons of oil'a stream of air at high velocity be admitted, preferably at or near the point of ejectment of the stream that the inpinging of this stream against the oily surfaces of locomotives, engines, or other vehicles entirely removes the oil and'accumulated material from the surfaces, leaving them clean and free from these matters.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section of our apparatus. Fig. 2 is a detailpartly in section showing our preferred form of nozzle.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a water supply pipe connected to any suitable source of supply of water under pressure, as

for example, the city water main. This supply may be regulated by a valve 2 of suitable construction. A T 3 attached to the water supply pipe 1 provides a connection for two branches of this supply pipe, the

'main branch 4 being provided at its discharge end with a nozzle 5, later more specifically described. The branch 4 of the water supply ,pipe leads to the lower end of a suitable tank 6, which may be of suitable size for containing a quantity of oil. The branch 4 may be controlled by a. suitable valve 2. At its upper end this receptacle is connected to the water supply pipe 4, by a pipe '7, an indicator or sight gage 7 'anda liquid controlling valve 7*. The tank is provided with an inlet 8 having a removable cap or plug 8 and also with a gage 9 provided with adrain cock 9 for indicating the level of liquid in the tank.

and passes through the sight gage 7 and pipe 7 into the branch4 of the watersupply pipe, through'which the oil and water is conveyed to the nozzle 5- The proportion of Oll 0f nozzle shown indetail in Fig. 2, in which to be admitted to the water is regulated by the valve 7. As hereinbefore described, we have discovered that by' admitting to the stream of oil and water passing through the pipe 4 a stream of air under high velocity, the oil contained in comparatively minute quantities in the stream of water-may bebroken up into extremely fine particles. The stream now consisting of water carrying in suspension the extremely fine particles of oil and air may be caused to impinge against the surfaces to be cleaned. We have discovered that the most efiective cleaning takes place if the air is admitted to the stream of oil and water at or near the point of ejectment. WVe believe that the air should be admitted at a point sufliciently near the point. of ejectment that the oily particles so. formed by the admission of the air may be thrown against the surfaces to be cleaned while in their state of greatest activity as hereinafter described. We prefer to use the form the pipe line 4 connects to one end of the chamber 5 of the nozzle, into which chamber the oiland water mixture from the pipe line 4 is received. This chamber 5 has on one side a lateral extension 5 into whichthe air supply pipe v10 leads, this extension 5 being formed between the end of the pipe 10 and the outlet of the chamber 5*, which outlet is formed into a discharge orifice 5. As a possible explanation of these phenomena, although we do not wish to be bound by this theory, it is our belief that by thus admitting the air to the mixture of oil and water at high velocity, the oil contained or carried in the water is so finely sub-divided as to take the colloidal condition and owing to the excess of water and to the velocity of the stream the oil remains.

as a colloidal suspension. As is known, matter in this colloidal condition possesses greatenergy of molecular attraction and particularly possesses the power when brought into contact with particles of foreign matter of uniting with the particles of foreign matter as a nucleus forming new combinations therewith. The colloids of hydro carbons possess this molecular attraction to a high degree and also in this state have a tendency to condense or coagulate. In order, however, 'to insure this condensation or coagulation there must be a nucleus of foreign matter or an electrical ion as the center of'condensation or coagulation. When, therefore, the stream carrying oil in colloidal suspension is carried; against the surface to he Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a storage tank for containing a cleansing liquid, a water supply pipe connected with said tank, means for admitting liquid from the storage tank to the water supply pipe, a nozzle receiving said water and liquid from the water supply pipe, said nozzle being provided with an air receiving extension on one side thereof, and means for delivering air under pressure to said air receiving extension.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a nozzle, a liquid supply pipe connected to the nozzle, means for admitting to the liquid supply pipe oil in an excess of water, and means at or near the nozzle for breaking up the oil into extremely minute particles and for impinging these 'particles carried in the water against the the combination of a water supply pipe,

means for feeding a cleansing liquid in predetermined quantities to the water insaid pipe, and means remote from said liquid feeding means for breakingup' the cleansing liquid into extremely minute particles while said liquid is being carried in the water.

4. An apparatus of the class described, comprising, in combination, a nozzle provided with an enlarged chamber and a lateral extension having a discharge orifice, means for admitting to said chamber; water containing oil with the .water in excess of the oil, and meansforadmitting to said lateral extension air under ,suflicient pressure to break up the oil into extremely minute particles at or near the point of ejectment of the oil and water from the nozzle and to impinge these particles against the surface-to be cleansed. I

GEORGE DURHAM.

. CHARLES W. MCGUIRK.

Witnesses:

JOHN S. MEENAN, Mosns E. CLIFFORD. 

